Saturday, February 14, 2009

(We have had this action alert now for a while, and hundreds of emails have been sent to MoveOn.org, they have yet to respond to any of our emails, which is downright offensive. Keep up the pressure on this so called "progressive" organization. I urge everyone to repost this and make our voices loud and clear that we demand MoveOn.org be LGBT inclusive).

MoveOn.Org a large California based progressive organization has yet to take a stand on the marriage amendment slated for the upcoming election. I personally have unsubscribed from MoveOn's email list months ago because I never see them take any actions on LGBT issues and I find that disturbing.

MoveOn.org is now taking feedback on where their focus should be going fwd, please let them know LGBT issues are important to you, as well as defeating the anti-gay marriage amendment in California.

20 comments:

I sent this to Moveon.org in Response to MoveOn.Org's lack of attention to our Community.

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I'm beginning to think that the tens of millions of Gays and Lesbians in this country shouldn't be listening to MoveOn.org because you don't address our issues and you don't support equality for all Americans. You don't mention your opposition (if it exists) to the impending California Anti-Marriage Equality Amendment. If Obama does not come out to support the sanctity of OUR marriages, then he will LOSE this election. Enough is enough! There are NO compromises when it comes to equality. NONE! Try to get elected WTHOUT the GAY VOTE. You wont. A black man running for president should know better than to think that we would EVER accept sitting in the back of the bus. WE WILL NOT! Never again!!!

Step up your outreach to the GLBT community or you will lose another election. Gay people are tired of being taken for granted. We will stay home before we will vote for another slick-talking, closet-case homophobe like Bill Clinton. Can you REALLY afford to lose our millions of votes in a tight election? Think about it! THINK ABOUT IT REALLY HARD!!! If you think you can just take us for granted then you are sadly mistaken. You better listen to the internet buzz about how digusted the GLBT community is with Obama's tepid reaction to the landmark California marriage equality decision. And Obama's insistence on "Civil Unions" is about as Jim Crow as anyone can be. Separate is NEVER equal -- he should know better. At least we do, and we will remember that and our TRUE friends in November.

I will encourage every member of the GLBT community (in person and on my blogsite at http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com) to stay home and not vote for Obama, or to vote for a third party candidate if the offical Democratic party line does not unequivocally support our full civil rights (including our right to marriage whatever consenting non-related adult we choose).

I am 57 years old. I have been with my spouse for over thirty-five years. We are now legally married. I've lived with hateful homophobic bigots (from both political parties on capital hill) for many decades; I am not about to support one now just because he promises everything to everybody else, but still thinks that his most loyal supporters, the tens of millions of voters from the GLBT community, should continue to take a seat at a different table so as to not upset the "straights". Forget it! Just say No to Separate but (not) Equal! I am legally married. GET IT! I hope Obama gets it too or it will be four more years of the last eight.

But I can wait if that's what it takes for someone with courage, honesty and integretity to come along to actually stand for uncompromised equality for all Americans. I have waited for over five decades, I can wait a few decade more it that's what it takes. And I am sure millions of GLBT who are fed-up with the lies, broken promises and compromising away our full equality are outraged too. So, ignore us at your own political peril.

Bud, did you seriously write an e-mail to MoveOn.Org telling them that you are going to withhold the Gay Vote from the candidates they endorse? As if you are the boss of the gay vote? Refusing to vote for Obama in protest because he endorses Civil Union instead of Marriage is exactly equivalent to voting for McCain. You're old enough to know how counterproductive it is to threaten people angrily when you're asking them to do something for you. I'd rather have a progressive in office who will take the country in the right direction via babysteps than a conservative who will take us backwards in giant leaps. Presidential elections, in our polarized two-party system, leave no room for idealism. I don't love the system, but I know how it works, and how to work it.

I just stopped by MoveOn to take their survey. GLBTI rights are a glaring omission from their platform so I am happy we as a community are attempting to get them to step up to the plate in the same way they do for other social and political causes. I agree with Bud that Obama is not doing nearly enough for his queer constituents...unfortunately I think Thalassa is right too to say that when it comes to the lesser of two evils Obama trumps McCain (grimace) by leagues. -Jen

Thalassa, I'm sorry I totally forgot that the word "Pride", as it appears in "Gay Pride", was just rhetorical and not literal. The fact that I am refusing to be a gay Uncle Tom for "Obama-right-or-wrong" may be a little vexing for the lemmings who are so desperate for crumbs from the table that they forget that they too are entitled to an equal slice of the pie.

Thank God (or goddess, whatever) that Rose Parks wasn’t such a wimp, as far too many are in the Gay Community, or maybe Obama wouldn’t even be allowed to run for President today. In case you haven’t heard, it’s the squeaky wheel that get the grease. If there was really such a thing as a united Gay Community, then we would demand our birthright of equality, not simply beg for a paltry semblance of it -- a so-called “separate but equal” marriage of convenience with the Democratic Party. Oh, I’m sorry, I meant a “Civil Union of Convenience” with the Democratic Party. How sad.

In a close election, it is very unlikely that any Democrat will ever be elected president without the majority support of the Gay Community. According to the CNN exit poll, 4 percent of all voters identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual, the same percentage as in earlier elections, as reported by ABC News. By comparison, 11 percent of voters were black, 9 percent were Latino, 2 percent were Asian, and 3 percent were Jewish. In 1996, 5 percent of the electorate self-identified as gay. Since then the Hispanic votes has increased while the Black vote, as well as other minorities, has remained relatively constant.

Of course, for every gay or lesbian that “self-identifies” as GLBT we all know that there are ten who wont tell. So, I have heard that more reliable pollsters have put the actual GLBT numbers closer to 12%, opposed to the under-rated 5%, of the totals in Democratic presidential races

Now you tell me that if a presidential nominee can win or lose an election by margins of 0.5% why would we even allow our votes to be taken so easily for granted? Let’s see if any other minority community would allow themselves to be so easily dismissed after they have contributed so much in money and in activism for a party that treats them like shoe-shine boys kneeling at the feet of their masters waiting for a pat on the head -- as long as they know their place.

The Jewish vote is much smaller percentage-wise than ours, yet see how both candidates have pandered to that constituency. And why? Because the Jewish Community demands respect and it is more organized than we are. Yet our community is at the top of the list in minority fundraising for Democratic candidates. But we just hand them a check and don’t ask for anything in writing back. That is just stupid. Get them on the record or show them the door.

It’s funny how people can actually be persuaded by strong leadership if he or she truly stands up for something and doesn’t just follow the herd. I’m sick and tired of hearing people in our community say: “Well, we have be on the down-low if we are ever going to get our rights. We have to sneak in when no one is watching and steal our rights back.”

Bullshit! Maybe too many of us are just so used to living a lie and living in fear that they too readily buy into what these Political Muggers have told us: “Just be perfectly quiet; hand me your money and don’t turn around until I am gone, and you‘ll be safe.”

I guess I have a different perspective on this issue. I view move on. org as getting the like minded politicians elected and I think its mainly up to the lgbt organizations such as HRC to inform the public and politicans about our issues. Alot of times it seems we attack those who are on the same team if they dont carry our rainbow flag high and proud.

Anonymous I disagree, they don't only focus on getting candidates elected. A closer examination of their site shows they are heavily focused on bringing an end to the war, health care, the environment, social security, and civil liberties. If they can focus on these hosts of issues, why can't they atleast issue a statement or a call to action to defeat the marriage amendment?

As a long time supporter of MoveOn.org, yesterday I received an e-mail from them asking me to vote on whether they should support the "No on 8" cause or if they should support the "Yes on 8" cause. This is the email I received:

Dear Californian MoveOn member,

The folks at the campaign against Proposition 8 are asking MoveOn to get involved. Before we do, we need to know where MoveOn members stand.

Proposition 8 would amend California's constitution to eliminate the right for same-sex couples to marry, and would ensure that "only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized" by the state.

Do you think MoveOn should:Join the fight AGAINST Proposition 8. Join the fight FOR Proposition 8. Stay neutral/not get involved.

We can't wait to hear what you think.

Thanks for all you do,—Peter, Marika, Eli, Ilyse and the rest of the team

I am disgusted that MoveOn.org is putting a Civil Rights issue up for referendum and wanted everyone to know what they are doing. As a supposed progressive organization, I would have expected that they would have already been in the fight for the "No on 8" cause. In light of this recent stand by MoveOn.org, I am seriously questioning if I can continue to support them.

What further baffles me is that this email and their position is not being reported on in the news or on news websites. I even sent the email to the Huffingtin Post as a news tip, but they don't seem to be addressing it either.

Stand up for justice in THIS country: We cannot move on if some of us are left behind. The LGBTQ community has stood with you, marched with you and supported you over the past 8 years. I urge you to stand with us and actively support the overturn of propostition 8.

If California-based MoveOn.org continues to remain silent on Prop. 8, I will soon join my gay and lesbian friends in calling for some sort of action against MoveOn.org, such as "shunning". Silence is complicity. Your silence is doubly so due to the fact that there are so many of us who have wholeheartedly joined with you on every single action.

MoveOn.org's silence on Prop. 8 is not acceptable, and is more meaningful now that the elections are over, The Wuss is due to be replaced in January, and absolutely nothing was accomplished by Democrats or progressives regarding impeachment; congressional subpoenas were simply ignored, email and other records have been permanently destroyed by the government, and other criminal actions by this war criminal government have happened without consequence.

MoveOn.org's anti-Republican rhetoric and protests and parades have come to nothing. The money we gave your organization was wasted, and should have been spent on our own struggle.

In other words, MoveOn.org can be made just as irrelevant to all gays and our supporters as it is acting, should that be what MoveOn.org wants, and it appears that this is the case.